


Best Kept Secret

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-09
Updated: 2009-11-30
Packaged: 2017-10-07 00:14:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katie Bell has just been promoted to the first string players of Puddlemere United. Unfortunately, this also seems to be the occasion her stalker needed to up the ante.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Advancement

"I absolutely positively do _not_ need an escort or some kind of security detail!"

Angelina Johnson shrugged at her friend Katie Bell. This was an old argument by now, one that Katie never seemed to realize she had lost before she even opened her mouth. Angelina was an Auror and a damned good one. She had risen through the ranks during the war despite her open affiliation with known resistors simply because she had given the regime no reason to fault her performance. Now she headed an entire complement of Aurors, two of which were Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. They had both elected to start their training from scratch, which she approved of, and she had snapped them up as soon as they were done with the Academy. They made an excellent, if high profile, addition to her team.

Katie had gone to Puddlemere United's reserve team right out of school. She had flown her heart out, hoping to prove herself. She had missed nearly half of her seventh year, but flying came naturally to her. Obsessed with all things Quidditch, she had easily won a spot on the reserve team. During the war, she had done what she could to help out her friends, and had barely escaped detection herself. Somewhere along the way, however, she had picked up a following. Most fans didn't know any of the reserve or second string players. Some of the particularly fanatical Quidditch fans did, and would root for their favorite players to move up through the ranks.

Katie had somehow come to the attention of a particularly devoted fanbase. Of that fanbase, someone had started to stalk her.

And now she was being promoted from second string to first. Tonight was the grand party to celebrate that fact.

Angelina crossed her arms. "And what kind of friend would I be if I let you go in unprotected, given this lunatic following you around?"

"Nothing's happened! Just creepy letters and sketches."

"Sketches of you at practice, where fans aren't supposed to be. Or _photos,_ even." Angelina stared her down. After a long moment, Katie at least flushed. Angelina was right, of course. Her safety was being compromised. "How about a compromise? I get an agent in that will be as unobtrusive as possible. You can go around pretending you don't have a stalker and I'll feel like you're protected enough."

Katie nodded glumly. "You would do it even if I hadn't agreed."

"Of course! Just like I did for Ali's bash when she got to first string for the Harpies." Angelina grinned, unrepentant. "The least I can do. Don't worry, I will have everything taken care of."

Katie grumbled and stood up. "I suppose that's it, then."

"Don't look so sad. It's going to be a great party. You'll see."

It was, actually. Puddlemere knew how to do a party right. It was an open party, as all of these celebrations were. All of the team members were in attendance, as were any significant others. The other teams in the league were in attendance, and the doors were thrown wide open to fans and friends alike. It was a happy occasion to get players into positions on the team, and it made the Quidditch community a tight knit one. Katie had done up her long brown hair into a French twist with glittering green crystal pins and wore her favorite little black dress over her skimpy knicker set that Alicia had convinced her to buy when she first left Hogwarts. She was wearing green crystal jewelry that brought out the green of her eyes, and black stiletto heels. It was easily the most sexy and feminine outfit she had ever worn in her life. Usually she dressed down, liking casual and almost boyish clothes. For this kind of party, however, fancy dress was the only option.

The alcohol flowed freely, and Katie enjoyed having the chance to chat with her friends off of the pitch. She was usually training so hard that her weekends and evenings were all tied up with practice. Even her family joked that she had married her broom the day she signed to Puddlemere. Still, she enjoyed it. None of the practices felt like work. She honestly loved flying, loved the game, and loved being on the team. If her stalker would simply disappear, her life would be absolutely charmed.

She and Alicia were sitting together with a few fans in attendance. They were trading reserve team stories for the fans' amusement, as well as trying to catch up. "And then, there was the ground rushing up. All I could think was 'Oh shite!' and pull up hard. Just nicked the tail of my broom," Katie said, laughing. She drank the last of the fruity mixed drink in her hand and put the empty glass down on a table. Someone pressed a drink into her hand that looked like that last fruity mixed drink. "Thanks, love," she said with a smile. "And d'you know, Wood had the gall to think I did it all on purpose? As if I'd ever hurt my broom that way."

Alicia snorted as some of the fans tittered. "That's how you know we're Quidditch players. Always thinking of what's between our legs."

One of the fans had been drinking from his glass and sputtered, spewing his drink onto the low table between their group. The others laughed at him as well as at Alicia's innuendo. Katie chinked glasses with Alicia and drank deeply from her glass. She'd never been much of a mixed drink kind of girl before; pints of beer were good enough to have on a night out with friends. But this was a party, and someone had pressed the first drink into her hands, and it had been all downhill from there.

It was warm in the room, she decided after a time. Though her dress was skimpy and clung to her like a second skin, she felt as if she needed to peel off some layers. She gave Alicia a playful wave and declared it was time to make further rounds to socialize. Alicia waved her off, blonde curls bobbing from the motion. "Go on, I'll have more of a chance to see you during games now."

Katie laughed and wandered through the crowds. It was stuffy at the party, possibly from the sheer crush of people. She headed toward a back hallway. The loo was locked, so she continued down to the end of the hallway. That door was unlocked, and turned out to be an office in the catering hall. She couldn't tell whose it was, but guessed that it wasn't the manager's office. That was likely to be much larger and more richly decorated than this one. She moved over to the window and pressed her cheek against the glass. It was cool, and helped to settle her overheated feeling a bit.

Marcus Flint had watched Katie all evening. When she detached herself from her little group, he followed her at a discreet distance. No one else was at the moment. He knew that she couldn't use the loo because Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley were in there, acting for all the world as if they didn't have a perfectly good townhouse in London that they had bought when they got engaged. Marcus watched Katie enter the last room at the end of the short hallway, and followed her in.

Katie turned as Marcus entered the room. Her lips parted and she smiled. "Too stuffy at the party?" she asked.

"Something like that," he hedged.

"It's cool in here," she continued, shrugging. "Unless you work here and I'm in your office?"

"You don't recognize me, Bell?"

Katie blinked and cocked her head to the side. It had been years, and his features weren't so awkward as they had initially seemed at school. "You're Flint. From Quidditch," she added almost unnecessarily. "I didn't recognize you."

Marcus' eyes raked over her lithe form. "I almost didn't recognize you, either."

She laughed, a slight flush to her cheeks. She walked over to him from the window, smiling. "What have you been doing for yourself? I've been doing Quidditch," she added, very unnecessarily.

"That I knew," he said gravely. "The party's in your honor, after all."

"You turned out much more handsome than I thought," Katie blurted. She clapped her hands over her mouth as she laughed, embarassed. She must have had more fruity drinks than she thought she had. She felt delightfully tipsy, and he didn't seem offended at all. That was good. She tended to run off the mouth on a good day, let alone when drunk.

"Thank you. I think," he said, crossing his arms. "You've done well for yourself after school, Bell."

"I think I did," she said with a smile. Marcus was a full head taller than she was in her heels, and he had broad shoulders and a strongly built frame. He had dark eyes and hair and was wearing immaculately cut dress robes. She touched a lapel almost playfully. "You did, too, didn't you?" While she didn't often dress to high fashion, she could recognize the material for the high end fabric that it was.

"I didn't do so badly," he admitted, uncrossing his arms. He seemed to be watching her every move, not sure what she was about to do next.

That was okay. She didn't know either. She was just running with it.

"And modest, too. I don't remember you doing that at school. I seem to remember a particularly foul mouthed Slytherin who looked like he got his jollies knocking girls off of brooms."

"That was Quidditch," Marcus told her archly. "That has nothing to do with anything."

Katie laughed. "Just so. Too many people don't think so." She realized that she was still rubbing the lapel of his dress jacket, but he didn't seem to mind it. "I'm still Chaser."

"I noticed," Marcus murmured. "How drunk are you?"

She laughed and shook her head. "I'm just happy. Here I am, greatest job in the world, and having a party to celebrate it."

"Then why aren't you back at the party?"

"It's quiet in here. And cooler. I seem to be very warm." She leaned up against him, a slow smile on her face. "I wonder why."

She was practically purring, and Marcus let his hands slide down her bare arms. "I wonder," he parrotted.

Katie rose to her tip toes and pressed a kiss against Marcus' mouth. It was like fire, and the slow burn beneath her skin became a full on blaze. She wound her hands through his hair as she opened her mouth over his. He followed suit, and she slid her tongue into his mouth as she pressed herself against him. The hands on her arms slid around her back, holding her steady.

When the kiss broke, Marcus could barely breathe. His blood was singing and she looked absolutely delectable. "Well, fuck me," he breathed.

"Yes, absolutely," Katie replied, then moved to attack his mouth again. He immediately opened his mouth, letting her tongue slide inside to brush against his. He palmed a breast through her dress, and the other hand slid down her back to cup her buttocks. Katie's hands were undoing his trousers as best as she could, and she was nearly panting with need. The fire beneath her skin had pooled between her legs, and she was walking desire. She gasped into his mouth as he dragged the edge of her skirt up, revealing the skimpy green lace panties that were already soaked through. "Marcus," she whined, pressing her face against his neck.

He helped slide her panties down her legs and shoved them into his coat pocket so they wouldn't get lost. He slid his fingers inside of her, and she made a soft mewling noise of pleasure. "Fuck, Katie, you're so wet."

She kissed him again, hands sliding beneath the waistband of his pants. "I want you," she whispered hoarsely when she broke the kiss. She bucked her hips against his hand, and he moved them inside of her, his thumb at her clit. She made a hoarse moan, throwing her head back as she clung to him for balance. It didn't take long for her to come, pulsing around his fingers and biting her lip to keep from crying out. Marcus backed her up against the wall, fingers still sliding inside of her. She was tight and wet, panting and moaning and making these keening noises that made his cock twitch and ache to be inside of her.

Marcus freed his erection after her next orgasm. He picked her up, her back pressed against the wall and kissed her. He slammed into her in one thrust, and their kiss swallowed her guttural cry of pleasure. He held her, balanced against the wall, her legs locked around his waist. Katie dug her fingers into his shoulder, her tongue in his mouth as he slid into her, out of her, then back into her again. She gasped and clutched him tighter. She tried to squeeze her legs tighter around his waist as she struggled breathe. "Harder," she panted, burying her face in the crook of his neck to muffle the next groan she made. "Merlin, yes, like that..."

Katie was tight and wet and even the pressure of her fingers on his shoulders didn't detract from that. He groaned incoherently as he pushed his entire length into her. She moaned, clutching at his shoulders and buried her face in the crook of his neck. "Merlin, Katie. Merlin, you feel so good." He groaned again, his eyes falling closed from the exquisite feel of her tight around him. He was close to coming as well. "Katie. Fuck, I'm gonna..." She trembled in his arms, fingers digging into his shoulders, breath hot and damp against his neck. She made a soft sound of pleasure, panting as she approached her own orgasm. "I can't..." he ground out, reaching between them to stroke her clit. She made a strangled cry as she came, her lips by his skin, and she pulsed around him, coaxing him to finish with her. He came with a strangled groan and sagged against her, pressing her into the wall.

She very nearly snuggled against him for a long moment, arms wound tight around his shoulders for balance. She made a contented humming noise in the back of her throat, and Marcus wanted to laugh. This had been a mistake of epic proportions, and she didn't seem to understand that.

Marcus let her down slowly, and she wobbled slightly on her feet as she pulled the dress back down. "Katie, I..." She leveled a sloppy grin at him, reaching out to give him more kisses. "You're going to be missed out there, and you don't want them coming to look for you." He shook his head at her sternly. "Go on, get out of here."

The grin died slowly, and she looked at him with a hurt expression. Without another word, she left the room.

Marcus did up his trousers and sighed. Well, if that wasn't a cock up, he didn't know what was. He followed her out to the hallway to apologize, but she wasn't there. Frowning, he went down the hall to the loo. It was empty and unlocked now.

Frowning even deeper, he pushed his way back into the throng of party goers. Even with the sheer crowds of people, he couldn't find Katie anywhere. Nearly growling in frustration, he pushed his way to Angelina's side. "Have you seen Katie?"

Angelina shook her head and took in his glower. "What's happened?"

He shook his head. "She was in a back room and I told her to get out of there."

She accepted that without the need for a story, thankfully. "Do you think she went home, then? She'd been drinking pretty heavily."

Two rum and cokes, three pints of ale, a glass of champagne with the first toast of the evening, four fruity mixed drinks, and five glasses of water mixed in between the alcoholic drinks at irregular intervals. He had been keeping track.

"I'll check there." Angelina gave him the coordinates, and ne nodded brusquely as thanks. Marcus weaved his way to the Apparition point and then Apparated to her flat.

Katie was sitting on her sofa, arms wrapped around a pillow as she was crying softly.

Thankful she was still in one piece, Marcus merely knelt in front of her after sending a quick Patronus to Angelina. "Why are you here and not at the party?"

"You told me to leave," she responded in a plaintive voice. "You hate me."

This was why he didn't like getting drunk. "I don't hate you," he said in a patient voice. "I told you to leave the room we were in. I thought you should go so that you wouldn't be found out."

"I don't care if I was."

Marcus sighed. "Yes, you would. You were there to celebrate, not shag some random stranger in a back room."

"You're not a stranger."

"I suppose I'm not, really," he admitted. She caught his hand as he started to get up. "What is it?"

"Why did you come looking for me here?"

"You weren't at the party," he told her, shrugging.

"You were worried about me?"

"Maybe."

Katie got to her feet. "I'm a big girl. You don't have to worry about me."

_You're drunk,_ he wanted to say. _You'll regret having shagged me in the morning,_ he almost said.

But she kissed him, her hands holding onto the lapels of his jacket, and he forgot what he was going to say.

He kissed her back, his tongue sliding into her mouth and his hands sliding down her back. "Are you sure?" he asked, brow furrowed.

"Yes," she murmured, unbuttoning his jacket and shirt. He shrugged them off and let her attack his trousers as they kissed again. It was short work to get her out of her dress, to run his fingers through her hair and send her pins flying. They stumbled to her bedroom, kissing each other ravenously along the way. Katie fell backward across the bed as soon as the back of her knees hit the edge of it, and she laughed as she shimmied into a better position on the bed.

Marcus' smile was fierce and almost possessive. "You're so fucking beautiful, Bell. Why pick me?"

Katie pulled him down on top of her. "I like the way you kiss me," she said, her voice a throaty purr. "It's amazing."

That was all he needed to hear. He crawled over her, hovering just above her splayed body. He ran his hand down along her front until his fingers found her core. She was wet and she tilted her hips toward his hand. She moaned, head thrown back as his fingers slid inside her and his thumb hit her clit. Katie moaned, writhing beneath his fingers as she reached up for him. "Marcus," she moaned, pulling him down to kiss her. "Fuck me, already!" Her body tightened, and he could feel her constrict around his fingers. She let out a groan as she came, but Marcus didn't let up. He continued to stroke her clit, fingers moving deep inside of her as he kissed her mouth. Katie made a soft mewling sound as she thrust her tongue into his mouth, her hands digging into his shoulders as she arched up against his moving hand.

When she came again, he thrust into her to the hilt. She groaned at the feel of him inside of her, the feel of his mouth over hers. She kissed him, hot and open, her tongue sliding into his mouth. Katie rocked against him, her hands keeping him firmly in place. He started to go faster and harder as her hands clutched him tighter against her. Marcus grit his teeth to keep from coming so soon, but he was caught deep inside of her and she was writhing prettily beneath him. He came with a groan and collapsed on top of her.

Katie folded her arms around him and happily settled beneath him. She hadn't come this particular time, but she was more than satisfied for the evening. It had been years since she'd shagged anyone, and that had been back at Hogwarts. She drifted off to sleep, content and tangled in Marcus' embrace.

***  
***


	2. Uncertainty

Katie woke slowly, languidly stretching out. She was alone in the bed, and smiled at the particularly hot dream she had been having just as she woke up. Cracking her eyes open to look at the time on her bedside clock, she froze at the sight of Marcus Flint standing at the foot of her bed, naked as the day he was born, neatly applying cleansing and ironing spells to the clothes he had been wearing to the party the night before.

She couldn't help it. She shrieked in surprise.

He looked up, and the ironing charm missed his pants and hit the corner of her bed. The wrinkled sheet instantly straightened. "Good morning."

Katie pulled the sheet up to cover her chest and made some kind of squeaking reply. Her head swam a bit; she had never gotten a hangover before and wondered if this was what it felt like. So the dream hadn't been a dream. It had been very, very real.

"No need to play it off as shy," he commented, applying the ironing charms again. "I've seen everything there is to see already."

"I'm not playing," she retorted. "I don't do this sort of thing, okay?"

"What thing?"

She flushed in embarrassment. She didn't want to sound ungrateful, because he had been fabulous and she hadn't felt this wonderful in a long time. But she didn't want him to think she was some kind of slag, either. "I don't just take random men home. Ever."

"I believe you mentioned last night I wasn't some random stranger," Marcus told her blandly. He shook out his pants and looked them over. "I'll have to transfigure them to be work appropriate, but I think these will do."

Katie couldn't believe her ears. He was acting completely blasé, as if he did this all the time. Hell, for all she knew he did, and she was simply another notch on his belt. That thought stung, and she tried to push the thought away. She really didn't know him at all.

"I was going to ask if you wanted breakfast," he continued, voice matter of fact and proper. "I gather you're not much of a morning person."

"I might be hung over. I don't know. I've never had one before."

He frowned at her. "Most people that have them know if they do." He looked at her. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I don't _do_ this!" she cried, incredulous. "I don't know how this works!"

"You knew perfectly well last night," he remarked, voice even. His gut was starting to churn, however. Did she regret the night before? Was she planning on denying it happened or would she say something to Angelina? If that happened... He didn't even want to think about that. That possibility didn't bode well at all.

"Not sex, you idiot!" she screeched, feeling her gut twist. She was now officially a slag, wasn't she? But she simply didn't do this sort of thing. It wasn't like her to get so drunk she came on to men and took them home, no matter how fit or handsome she thought they looked. Marcus wasn't classically handsome, but there was an intensity about him that she found appealing. Merlin knew why.

Marcus shook his head as she averted her eyes when he approached. "Look at me, Katie."

Her eyes snapped to his. "What?"

"This is perfectly ridiculous. Stop covering yourself up like that." Her hands dragged the sheet down to her lap, and she squeaked in surprise. "You can look at me, you know. You had a bloody good time last night and I'm not about to feel ashamed about that. You shouldn't either."

Katie felt like crying. Something wasn't right, and it felt as if she wasn't even in control of her own body anymore. That, more than anything else, was almost terrifying. "You don't understand. This isn't like me," she nearly wailed. "I don't do this!"

"Well, you did last night," he snapped. If anyone at work found out, he'd likely be sacked on the spot.

Katie dragged the sheet back up to cover herself and bit her lip nervously. Some part of her wanted to reach out and ruffle his hair, and the thought of it made a low heat start to simmer in her groin. What the hell was wrong with her? "I know, I know." She sniffled and turned away from him, not wanting to see him standing there naked in her bedroom. There had never been a naked man in her bedroom before. What was she supposed to do with this? Stare at him? Look away? Make some kind of insipid small talk?

Marcus groaned. So much for an easy morning. "Just look at the damn cock and get it over with," he ground out. Her eyes snapped there immediately, and there was a delightful blush across her cheeks. For someone who had great gutter talk, she was skittish and shy. Oh, he knew full well that she'd only ever dated Lee Jordan and Roger Davies in school, and that for all his talk, Roger Davies had gotten nowhere with her. "Katie, what the hell is going on?"

"I don't know!" she cried, frustrated. She dragged her eyes up to meet his. "I can't even control what I'm doing!" she wailed. To her horror, she burst into tears and covered her face with the sheet.

Frowning, Marcus could only stare. He wondered if she would accept it if he sat down beside her to comfort her. "What do you mean, you can't control what you're doing?" he asked carefully.

"You say something and I'm doing it even though I don't want to!"

His frown deepened. "Stand up." She did, clearly startled that she did so. "Lie down on all fours."

Katie positioned herself on all fours the bed, facing away from Marcus. She turned her head to look at him, clearly frightened. "Stop it," she whispered. "What are you doing?"

"What the hell?" he asked, stunned. "I'm not doing a damned thing!"

After a moment, Katie was able to collapse down to her stomach. She sat on her bed, drawing her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms tightly around them and looked at him as if about to cry. "I didn't want to do that but I couldn't stop it. Why would that happen?"

A dozen different curses and spells flew through his mind. There were at least twenty different potions that could do such a thing.

_I'm not like this,_ she had said. It was more than just confusion and alcohol.

"Get dressed," he snapped, tugging on his boxers. He quickly transfigured his dress robes from the night before into a serviceable suit. Katie was woodenly getting dressed in denims and a loose T shirt, a look of fear on her face. Marcus sighed. He hadn't been thinking when he had started ordering her about.

This didn't bode well. This didn't bode well at all.

Marcus ran a hand through his hair. The last thing she needed was to be afraid of him, and he had snapped at her without thinking. "Katie?" He stopped what he was doing and closed his hands over hers. He took care to speak slowly and carefully, and to not use any expletives. "I'm not angry with you, okay? I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing to me for?" she mumbled, not quite looking up.

"I'm sorry I yelled. I didn't think." He pulled a face at her. "I don't know what this is yet, but I'm going to figure it out. I promise."

Katie looked up and saw his sincere expression. She hadn't thought he was responsible, since he had seemed just as bewildered as she had been. The only difference was, because he was observing and not feeling trapped within his own body, he didn't have the same kind of fear that she did. She was a Quidditch player. She had to be in control of her body. She had to know what she was about to do. She had to be aware of what was happening. "All right." She looked at him, then, in his crisp transfigured clothes and his intent expression. "But why would you feel like you had to figure it out?"

Marcus slid an arm around her waist. "I'll explain everything once we get there."

"Where?"

"Headquarters." He did side-along apparition, not waiting for her reply.

She instantly recognized the surroundings, however. It was the apparition point just outside Auror Headquarters. "You're an Auror?" she squeaked. _This_ had to be Angelina's agent.

"Unspeakable, actually," he corrected. He ignored her incredulous expression and led her inside, straight to Angelina Johnson's suite of offices. "Angie, we have a problem," he told her without preamble.

_Angie?_ Katie thought, stunned. How did Marcus Flint know Angelina? And how did he get to be an Unspeakable? She had honestly thought he would have more likely been a Death Eater.

Angelina took in Katie's dazed expression as well as Marcus' intent one. "How bad is it, then?"

"He was there last night and got close to her." Angelina looked stunned and Katie made a soft choking noise. "I'm thinking there's some kind of obedience spell or potion."

"What are you talking about?"

Marcus looked at Katie. "Stand on one foot." Startled, Katie did so. "Sit down." Without any chair around, Katie sat cross legged on the floor. "Stand up and sit on Angie's desk." She did so.

Angelina sat there for a moment, unable to think of a single thing to say. "Is it just you?"

"I don't know. It's something we just found out."

Rubbing her temple wearily, Angelina shook her head. "I'm glad you're so thorough, Marcus. If you didn't check on her this morning..." She paused. "We need to test this, though. Katie, get off my desk."

"Well, sure, I guess," Katie replied, confused. There was no imperative for her to do so, not like when Marcus told her to do something. She slid off of the desk and stood beside Marcus again.

Angelina frowned. "Do you think it's a gender thing?"

"Could very well be," Marcus mused.

Katie didn't like how they were ignoring her, and crossed her arms under her breasts. She shouldn't have felt hurt by the fact that Marcus wasn't looking at her, wasn't making any mention of why he was in her flat that morning. She didn't exactly want to advertise that they had shagged the night before, but it felt strange, like a secret she was keeping from Angelina. She wasn't sure how she felt about keeping a secret like that. But if he was the one supposed to be guarding her, shagging her would ruin him.

Angelina went to her office door. "Harry? Ron? C'mere for a minute? I've a favor." She waited until they got into her office, wondering why Katie and Marcus were there. "Tell Katie to do something, either of you."

Harry scratched his head for a moment. "Give Flint a shove," he said.

Katie pulled a face. "Do I have to?" she asked. Her hand rose a bit, but then she put it back down to her side.

"Kick his shin," Ron suggested with a grin.

Katie crossed her arms again. "I really don't want to do that one."

"I'm not exactly pleased I've become your sodding punching bag," Marcus growled, glaring at Harry and Ron. They merely grinned at him as Angelina shoved them out of her office.

"I think that settles it, don't you?" Angelina said, concerned. "Me, no problems at all. Them, she's able to resist. You, not at all. Why you, I wonder?"

Katie and Marcus were both silent, though Katie couldn't help but stare at Marcus' hands. She remembered the way they felt when he had touched her face, when he had stroked her, when he had slid his fingers inside of her. She could feel the blush rising to her cheeks, could see Angelina stare at her pointedly. "I hit on him last night," she mumbled. There was no need to talk about the shagging, was there?

Angelina's jaw set. "So it's multiple things we're dealing with, then. An obedience and a libido potion?"

"Just a libido potion, you think?" Marcus asked, curious.

"Well, she was in the middle of a huge crowd. If it was a love potion, it wouldn't have mattered who got hit on, as long as she got shagged in the process. A libido potion would just make it more likely for her to hit on someone her type."

Katie wanted to sink through the floor. Or die. Or both. Blushing furiously, she glared at her friend. "Thanks for talking about me like I'm not even here."

Angelina at least looked abashed. "I'm sorry. I think we need to get you to our forensic potions master. We'll need blood samples, urine samples..."

"What?!"

"You've been drugged," Marcus told her bluntly. He held her gaze evenly, and Katie thought she was drowning in his eyes. "We need to have the specialist compare what's left in your system with all the known variants of potions likely to have had this effect. It's the only way to tell what's been given, and the only way to see if it will wear off or if it's permanent."

"Well, I don't immediately want to shag you on sight, so I think it wore off," Katie snapped without thinking. Once the words left her mouth, she covered her face in her hands out of embarrassment. Angelina burst out into laughter. "Shut it, Johnson. It's not funny."

"Damn straight it is!" Angelina chortled. "Oh, your face!"

"Not fucking funny," Marcus growled at Angelina. Katie shivered at the menacing undertone in his voice, and Angelina's mouth snapped shut.

"Right then," Angelina said with a nod. "Off to get you tested, Katie."

Various kinds of samples later, Katie sat in Marcus' office holding a mug of hot chocolate. Angelina had a meeting to go to with her team, and would follow up on the forensic tests. She shivered despite the chocolate and tried not to look Marcus in the eye. It was awkward, to say the least. What was she supposed to say to him?

"What?" he asked irritably. She looked up, confused. "What is it? You look like you're dying to say something."

Katie shook her head. "No. I'm just worried about this."

"That's shite. Tell me what you're really thinking."

"I don't know what to say to you now," she blurted, compelled by the order he had given. "All I can think about it how it felt and I can't even talk about it and I don't know what to say to you." Katie cringed as the words tumbled from her lips. "That wasn't fair."

Marcus smiled at her grimly. "I'm Slytherin."

_Were you a Death Eater?_ she wanted to ask. _Did you have to kill anyone in the war?_ But she didn't ask the questions. She sipped the hot chocolate instead. It occupied her mouth and kept her from saying something stupid. He probably already thought she was a silly bint now that it was official she wasn't a slag of her own volition.

He wondered what she was thinking, sitting there and trying to keep composed. She'd been dosed with unknown potions or spells, had shagged a near stranger and found out that said stranger was the bodyguard her friend had set upon her. And all that was before breakfast. It was enough to knock anyone flat, and she seemed to be holding up all right. He looked around his office. There were no active cases at the moment, which was why he'd been able to grant Angelina's favor request to watch over Katie.

"You know, you never did answer my question from before," he began idly. "Though I may not have actually asked it."

"What question?"

"What do you want for breakfast? My treat."

She looked at him dumbly for a moment, then waited for her brain to kick into gear again. "Um... Pancakes with lots of syrup?"

Marcus stood up and held out his hand. Katie took it without thinking. She just felt better not fighting the urges to do as he wanted her to. Fighting it led to varying degrees of headaches, nausea and restlessness. At least he was doing his best not to abuse the situation. That out of everything made her feel safe with him despite the situation. "There's a diner near here that has excellent pancakes."

Katie grinned at him for the first time that morning. "Fabulous. I'm hungry."

If he could behave himself, so could she. She could pretend that they were simply friends meeting for breakfast to discuss random things. She could pretend that she was striking conversation to stave off boredom. She was curious about him at this point; she knew what he felt like in bed and what he did for a living, but that was it. Katie knew at this point that Angelina was never letting her go anywhere without a shadow. She might as well try to get to know him better.

***

Marcus Flint was the youngest of five boys. He was somewhat indulged, able to fly when young and devote time to Quidditch. He had to take social skills lessons as all Pureblooded elite children had to, but was allowed to skive off dance lessons when he complained to his mother. She convinced him to take classical piano to play Pureblooded composers like Chopin or Mozart, which also conveniently got him off of the dancefloor. She died when he was seven, however, and everything stopped then.

So did his stories, which were a lovely background music to breakfast. Katie tried asking about his early Hogwarts days, but he simply shrugged and talked more about Quidditch than what it was like to be in Slytherin House then, or what happened to the piano playing. Katie found herself telling him about growing up an only child in Bell Manor, of playing with nanny elves or neighborhood children in the primary school she had been sent to. There hadn't been any girls about beside her, so she played Quidditch and other typically boy games. Despite her mother's insistence that she learn to be a lady, the love of Quidditch stuck while the decorum lessons didn't quite stick.

Katie couldn't convince Marcus to let her go to Puddlemere's practice session that afternoon by herself. She hadn't been too surprised by that, but figured she should lodge in protest. "I'll be fine! They have plenty of security on the pitch at all times, and they're aware of the problem."

"Uh huh. Pull the other one," he'd replied in a surly tone. "The stalker managed to sneak past security to get photos and make sketches of you at practice sessions. We'll not have that again."

"I don't need you to go with me."

His glare was withering, but Katie stuck her jaw out at him and refused to be cowed by it. "You will allow me to go with you," he said, enunciating every syllable clearly.

As the compulsion kicked in, Katie glared at him. "Fuck you."

"We did that already," he told her flatly. He slid his arm around her waist and she had to let him. "I'll apparate you. Honestly, Bell," he began in an even tone. "This is just safer."

He was so calm and controlled. He was nothing like the boy on the Quidditch pitch, knocking her aside to get at the quaffle or making snide remarks at the Gryffindor team. He was nothing of the bully he had been in school. He was someone different, someone collected and neatly pressed, sharp corners and proper behavior. If there was anything underhanded remaining in him, it didn't show anymore. At least, it didn't show where she could tell. Though maybe preying on her weaknesses counted.

He apparated them to the Puddlemere practice pitch. Katie was flabbergasted that he knew the coordinates, though she supposed that she shouldn't have been. If she was his assignment -- and it burned, that she was nothing more than a file on his desk that happened to go out of her way to shag him -- then of course he would know where she needed to be. She wondered what else he knew about her, and how he would have gotten the information. Angelina would have helped him, certainly. And maybe he could convince Alicia, Oliver or Leanne to talk to him, if he chose to reveal why he was asking for it. Katie wouldn't imagine any of her friends gossiping about her, other than making comments about how she was such a goody goody and needed to loosen up more. "There's life outside of Quidditch," Alicia would tell her, usually on her way to some dance club or to go on a date.

But for Katie, she lived and breathed Quidditch and flying. There was nothing else but that.

There was a crowd outside the locker rooms, as well as plenty of uniformed security from the pitch's management office. Katie frowned at the sight of it. No one knew she had been dosed with unknown potions the night before, and the crowd outside didn't seem to be looking for any particular player. Usually fans that showed up for practices were turned away, but had signs or gifts for their favorite player. The crowd this afternoon seemed to be trying to ogle the entrance to the locker rooms in the hallway leading to the pitch.

"Stay with me," Marcus growled at her, just low enough that no one else could hear. Katie could feel the pull to obey him without question, and it made her snake an arm around his waist. She pulled him tight, and he nodded at her in approval. She supposed that he didn't even seem to remember the obedience potion that was likely part of the cocktail she had been given the night before by her stalker, whoever he had been. There had been altogether too many strange faces at the welcoming party. It had been a security nightmare, one that she was now sorry for putting Angelina through.

They shoved through the crowd to the locker rooms. Katie was recognized by the pitch security guards, and she was obviously there with Marcus. He exuded an almost menacing air anyway, and would have been waved through simply to avoid a nasty confrontation.

"Katie!" Jacob Valentine called from the locker room entrance. He was the reserve Keeper, and waved her over from the throng that the secuity guards were trying to push back. "Over here!"

Frowning, she made her way over to him. The practice pitch had a surrounding enclosure, with buildings by its entrance. There were multiple uses for the low buildings; one was a management office, one was a security office and there were two locker room buildings. The locker rooms were connected to the pitch via the entrance hallway, where they were now standing. "What's going on?"

"Thank Merlin you're all right. I mean, when we got here and saw it..."

"Saw _what?"_ Katie insisted. "I just got here, remember?"

Jacob looked at Marcus askance, not sure why he was still standing next to her when security had pushed back anyone who wasn't a Puddlemere player. "And this is...?"

"Marcus Flint, Jacob Valentine," she introduced abruptly. "Security detail, apparently," she snapped.

"Play nice," he intoned, and she snapped to attention. Katie leveled a glare at Marcus, but he only stared back innocently.

Fucking Slytherin.

Jacob eyed Marcus warily, but accepted Katie's explanation and Marcus' curt nod at him. "Someone got in earlier this morning. The locker room was trashed, but it was the female lockers... _Yours_ in particular."

Katie's jaw tightened and she pushed past Jacob and the rest of the team members to get into the locker room. There were all of six female players on all three Puddlemere teams, so the female locker room wasn't nearly as crowded as the male locker room during practice. By unspoken consent, the first row of lockers closest to the door weren't used, just in case one of the men decided to poke their heads in. The ladies all used the back row and snagged lockers of their choice. None of the lockers were actually labeled on the outside, but were decorated on the outside a bit to individualize them. Katie's had floral vines and brooms painted on the front, and pictures of her with her parents, Angelina, Alicia, Oliver, the Weasley twins, Leanne and her Puddlemere friends on the inside.

It didn't surprise her that Marcus followed her into the female locker room. She went straight to the back row of lockers. Belongings were strewn around, but her locker was completely savaged. Blood was strewn around the entire area and poured onto her uniform, which had been ripped to shreds and scattered in pieces on the floor.

Katie covered her mouth in shock at the sight of it. She could feel the shivers roll down her spine. Her stalker apparently didn't like the fact that she didn't go home with him the night before. He didn't like that his plan didn't work and she didn't just fall over herself to obey his every whim. She wasn't sure if he knew about Marcus or not, but somehow she wouldn't have surprised if he did.

She felt Marcus' presence behind her before his hands settled on her shoulders. "He did this."

"Yes, he did."

His voice was so calm and collected, and Katie could feel herself shaking. She whirled around and struck at his chest with the flat of her hand. "How can you just stand there? How can you just bloody stand there and know he was in here pawing through my shite and breaking it all to pieces?! How can you be so sodding calm!"

His hands were tight on her arms, almost painfully so. "I am because I have to be." His eyes were dark, his jaw set. Katie felt chilled just looking at them; suddenly she wanted to take her words back. He was tightly wound, kept in careful control. But his eyes revealed his inner turmoil, and they were all too easy for her to drown in. "I will keep you safe. He won't touch you."

She believed it, obedience potion aside. He was too intense, too self assured and too strong a presence not to believe.

Katie pressed her face to his chest and drew in a shuddering breath. He was a calming presence, even more so once his arms settled around her. He had managed to control his impulses and was so sodding mature compared to his Hogwarts self. Katie felt like such a child, such an innocent. She wasn't any different than she had been at Hogwarts, really. The war and whatever happened since then might as well have not existed for all the change in her there had been. She had wanted to believe that she could take care of herself, that she didn't really need a complement of Aurors or special protection measures.

Now it was obvious that she had no choice, and the knowledge was painful.

***  
***


	3. Unspoken Things

Sitting in her living room knowing that a stalker was gradually getting more violent was only one thing unsettling Katie Bell. A glowering Marcus Flint pacing back and forth in her living room was another. Knowing that she could be compelled to do whatever he said without question was another. Knowing that she was attracted to him, even without active libido potion in her system, was downright frightening. She'd never been after the pretty boys, though she'd liked handsome and friendly. Marcus was still tall with rough features, broadly build and solid. Katie had the feeling that he had learned his control the hard way, that it was born out of life or death situations and that he would fly apart at the seams if he ever let go the way he used to when flying back on the pitch at Hogwarts.

It should have frightened her even more. It should have, but didn't.

He took care not to compel her too much, and kept his interaction with her fairly brusque and to the point. "Libido potions generally wear off in twenty-four hours," he had told her once they had returned to her flat. "We don't know what variant you've been dosed with or how it even responds in conjunction with the other ones. Just sit still and try not to think too much."

The fact that he was intelligent had nearly knocked her flat. It wasn't hard to sit there and not think after that comment.

Katie bit her lip and kept her arms wrapped tightly around herself, watching him pace. His hands were loose, as if ready to fly and hit something if any noise startled him. The steps he took were jerky, almost agitated, almost pained. Katie watched his face, the clench of his jaw and the hard look in his eyes. Anyone else would think he was fearsome, maybe intimidating. Even a day ago, Katie would have wholeheartedly agreed and gone on her merry way without crossing his path.

Right now, she couldn't help but look at his hands and mouth, at the hard set of them, and want to pull him down to her. It wasn't the libido potion any longer, she was sure. This didn't have the same kind of desperation she had the night before. This was a more quiet feeling, the vague ghost of his prior touch feeding it. She could remember the way he had touched her, the feel of his lips over hers, his hands holding her just so. She could feel the care he had taken with her before her own touch had pushed him too far. His language got crude, his kiss more desperate. He was in control because he had to be, not because he wanted to be.

"How did you get to be an Unspeakable?" she asked, breaking the silence. He glared at her, pacing off step before resuming his walk. "Look, I can't watch you pace like that, okay? Just say something. Breakfast was nice."

"It was Moody," he replied tersely after a moment.

"What?"

"Moody. Mad Eye Moody. He brought me over."

The words meant nothing to her, and Katie frowned at him. "Is that usual?"

"No, it isn't."

Katie glowered at him the best she could, though he wasn't fazed by her in the least. "I said talk, not grunt at me."

Marcus' hands clenched into fists at his sides. "I don't talk about this, all right?"

"Just say something..."

"Fuck! Bell! What do you want?" he snapped, whirling around, eyes blazing and entire body taut with tension.

He didn't like waiting, never had. But his entire life after Hogwarts was nothing but a waiting game, nothing but looking to see when the other shoe would drop. This was a thousand times worse; an innocent life hung in the balance.

"What happened?" she asked in a soft voice. She wasn't cowed by his anger, knowing full well where the frustration was coming from. She met his gaze head on, and he turned away first.

Marcus resumed his pacing, though his steps now were jerky and restless. "I joined up the Aurors after school. Flying wouldn't hack it. I needed to be in something full time, or I'd take the Dark Mark." Katie sucked in a breath, eyes wide. "So I was away in Auror school for two years when I came to Moody's attention. He was even more paranoid after he'd been taken, checked everyone out in the entire school top to bottom. Took me aside, knew I was avoiding the tradition. Every other Flint got the Mark but me, why was that? Fucking bastard. But he believed me when I said I didn't want it, when I didn't want any part of the war. So he shuttled me off to the Unspeakables training program. It was hush-hush, even more so than the Auror program. When they came looking for me, I was already gone."

Katie could see that even telling her this much was painful. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" he bit out, still pacing. "Not your fault. You were in school through all of that. You had enough you were going through your final year."

It didn't even surprise her that he knew about the cursed locket incident. She didn't even feel any irritation; everyone had known about it then, why not him, too?

"I shouldn't have made you talk about a painful subject if you didn't want to," she said in a small voice. "That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair, Katie," he said, not looking at her.

He couldn't stand the way she was looking at him, as if she could see _him._ And he couldn't stand feeling as though he had failed her already, as though he wouldn't catch this stalking bastard in time. She meant nothing— no, she _should_ have meant nothing. She should have been merely a name in a file on his desk, a favor to Angelina Johnson, a smattering of facts he had drawn out of her friends and colleagues without them even realizing that he was building a character profile. Most of them had been easy, as a matter of fact. A chance meeting in a pub to talk about Quidditch would lead to her name on their lips as an up and comer on the reserve team, proud that she'd never been on the third string team.

She was curled up on her couch, legs tucked under her. He had to forget how soft her skin had been, how responsive she had been. It had been a mistake, that was all. She had been high on a libido potion, she wouldn't have ever come to him on her own. Never mind Angelina's assertion that libido potions were designed to augment natural desire. This was a variant, an unknown variant, and one concocted by her stalker. There was no guarantee that it behaved like normal libido potions. Marcus knew he was a dour looking man, knew that he was angry and difficult to talk to. There was nothing in him that she should want.

"Marcus, sit down, please," Katie said, a slight whine to her voice. "I can't take watching you pace anymore."

"The results should be back soon," he grumbled. A second set of labs had been taken, so the forensic potions master could measure the rate of metabolite degradation. He could then extrapolate back what the highest concentration had been, based on their rough estimate of when she had been dosed at the party. Then the potions master would have to match the metabolites to known potions ingredients, then figure out which variants containing those ingredients were likely to have been the base potion Katie had been dosed with. It was tedious and time consuming, and he hated waiting. He never handled waiting gracefully, which was why he always was given the active cases that were expected to be solved quickly. He moved swiftly, steadily, never seen. It was better that way for everyone.

Better to forget what might have been and what could never be.

He sat with a plop on the couch and a forbidding glower on his face. Katie's touch on his arm burned more than it should have, mattered more than it should have.

"I'll be okay if you're here," she said, voice soft and trusting.

He had tried to reset the wards on her flat, but he would have had to take apart the ones on the entire building first. She was in an old, old building, and the owners were fifth generation wizards who had bought the building from an elderly woman retiring to the south of France. They had no idea what wards were set into the building or how cutting the building into flats had worked. There was no sense of what ward was active on which flat, and it had been a disgusting exercise in frustration.

"I'd've felt safer if you let me move you elsewhere," he grumbled.

"Where am I going to go? What am I supposed to do? Run and hide?"

"Yes," he hissed. "Let me do my job."

Katie thought he would have let a curse word slip, but he was tightly reined in again. She reached out to touch his arm, but he shrugged off even the lightest of touches. Of course he wouldn't want her touching him. The last time she did, they shagged like mad weasels. It had to be the last thing he wanted to do, when she was nothing more than a case. Still, she was a Gryffindor. They didn't shy away from awkward situations, they ran headlong into them to fix it.

"Look, Marcus, I won't tell anyone about what happened last night, all right? I'll keep it a secret. You won't have to worry about being sacked or anything." She soldiered on gamely despite his withering glare. "Angelina thinks you turned me out after I hit on you. You're still an upstanding Unspeakable in her book. It'll be fine."

"It will not be fine," he insisted.

"Yes, it will," Katie insisted. "Just because you're some morose pessimist..."

"Stop talking," he hissed, eyes narrowing.

Her mouth snapped shut with a click of her teeth. She glowered at him as best as she could, but he seemed completely unaffected. She couldn't even open her mouth yet. So she did the only thing she could think of to get him to stop thinking so negatively.

She kissed him.

Now she could open her mouth, and she did so with gusto. She slid her tongue into his mouth, stroking his tongue with hers. She wound her hands into his hair, pulling him closer to her. She heard herself make a soft sound of pleasure as his hands slid down her back. Katie slipped one hand into the waistband of his pants and pulled out the shirt tucked in neatly. Her fingers ghosted over the planes of his stomach on her way to clutch at his back, and he stiffened at her touch. Marcus pulled back, breaking the kiss. "We can't."

She froze, unsure if it was her own uncertainty or the obedience potion effect. "But I want to. This is _me,_ not some potion."

"That's not my concern," he began, brows furrowed.

"Bullshit," Katie spat, annoyed. "You're hiding behind your badge now, but you're just worried I didn't really want you last night."

"You said it wasn't like you."

"It wasn't. But that doesn't mean I didn't want it. That doesn't mean I don't want it now."

His eyes darkened. "Don't toy with me, Bell," he said darkly, brows like a thundercloud over his stormy eyes.

There was nothing to compel, and Katie laughed. "I'm not." She withdrew her hand from under his shirt to cup his face. "I'm not playing at anything right now," she murmured, staring him in the eye. "I want you. I couldn't stop thinking of you, of how you felt. I want it, Marcus."

His mouth crashed down to cover hers in a possessive kiss. She opened her mouth beneath his, her hands still on his face. He was reaching for her waist, for the denims beneath the overlarge shirt she had been wearing all day. They were unbuttoned and sliding down her legs before she realized it, and her panties along with them. He broke the kiss to pull her shirt over her head and toss it aside. He leaned down without saying a word to lick the side of her neck. It was almost as if he was afraid of saying anything that would get her to change her mind.

Marcus kissed a trail down to her breasts, and he kissed the tops of them as he reached behind her to unhook her bra. Katie's breath caught as he took a breast into his mouth and suckled gently, his hands running down her back as she sat there on the sofa. He was kneeling in front of her, between her spread legs, dark head at her breast. Katie threaded her fingers through his hair and leaned back against the sofa, her mouth falling open as she gasped for breath. He rolled his tongue around the nipple, hands running up and down her back. She moaned at the contact, at the gentle suction in his mouth

He was a quiet lover. He was still contained, still tightly controlled even as he moved to shatter her to pieces with his mouth and hands. Katie gasped as he left her breast and licked a trail down her body. Mouth falling open, she watched as his lips approached the mound between her legs, and she sucked in a breath out of surprise. "What...?"

"No one's done this before?" he asked, tone mild but eyes dark with desire. Katie could only shake her head. "Then let me be the first."

There was no tug inside her chest at the words. She had every intention of letting him have his wicked way with her, however he wanted to do it. She watched almost helplessly as he grasped her hips and drew her closer to the edge of the couch. Marcus bent his head lower down, then touched his tongue to her clit. She sucked in a breath at the sensation, soft and wet and good. Katie sighed, a hand working its way to thread her fingers through his dark hair. The other caught hold of his shoulder, nails digging in through his shirt. "Marcus," she whispered, canting her hips up toward his mouth.

She could almost feel his smile against her flesh but couldn't even feel offended. His hands held her hips in place when she would have bucked them against his mouth, and his tongue made lazy circles around her clit. She whimpered, fingers digging in tightly as she gasped. Marcus simply kept his eyes closed as he worked her clit with his tongue, breathing in the scent of her. He wanted to memorize every taste, every scent, every sound, every touch. He was half convinced she would regret it in the morning, when she had time to think about it and realize that she only wanted him because he was there, not because she actually wanted him. The other half hoped she was one of those daft girls that thought she could _change_ him, that she could lure him into some kind of idyll just by the power of her sex.

Of course, she probably could. He had always been half in love with her anyway, and she was dazzlingly beautiful. She didn't even remember the time she had talked with him briefly at an open practice session before the reserve team got a chance to play. She had smiled with sheer joy for the game, for love of being with fellow fans. Her enthusiasm was infectious. She gave all of herself to everything, and he had basked in her sunshine for a brief moment.

Marcus was convinced this moment wouldn't last very long, but he would take every second of it that he could.

He moved one hand so that he could slide a finger inside of her as he moved to suck on her clit. She made a soft keening noise, nails scraping his scalp as she jerked against him. He slid his finger in and out of her, slow at first, then faster as her hips bucked against his mouth and she pulled at his shoulders, demanding more of him. He sucked harder, fingers curled inside of her, and she tightened around his fingers. "I'm uh... about... Merlin, Marcus, please, like that, there, please, pleasepleaseplease just like that, right there..."

Katie nearly leapt off of the couch as she came, hand flying to her mouth to muffle the cries. Marcus slowly let go of her clit, and let his fingers slow down and then pause. "Okay, there?" he asked, still sounding calm and unruffled.

Chest heaving as she tried to breathe, Katie could only nod at him. It wasn't fair that he seemed unaffected and she had just shattered to pieces. She looked at him with large eyes. "That was really good," she whispered, amazed. "Wow."

Marcus tried not to laugh, but failed. She gave him a sloppy grin, and he moved up to kiss her full on that smiling mouth. She could taste herself on his tongue, but wasn't quite repulsed. Maybe she should have been, but there was really no time for her to even think about it. She could feel his arms moving against her as he undid his trousers and slipped them down from his waist. He thrust into her, and she gasped, opening her mouth wider under his. Katie wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tried to shimmy into a better position. She wound up upsetting his balance, toppling them both from the couch onto the floor.

Laughing, Katie straddled Marcus on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. He looked disgruntled and moved about beneath her until he was able to toss aside one of her trainers that he had landed on. "Fucking hell, Bell, that's not funny."

"Still Bell and Flint, then?" she asked, hovering over him. He had fallen out of her when they tumbled to the floor, and she was just above the tip of his cock, taunting him with her proximity.

"Katie," he ground out. He grasped her hips, fingers digging in tight to try to push her down onto his cock. "Fuck, Katie. Blast it all to hell, Katie, don't," he groaned. She pursed her lips and leaned down to kiss him.

"Ask me nicely," she taunted.

He moved his hands from her hips and tangled them into her hair. "Katie, I want to come inside you. I want you to scream my name. I want to bend you over that coffee table and fuck you again, and then drag you back to your bed and do it all again." He growled at her smiling mouth. "What's so funny?"

"That's so bleeding hot," she whispered, sinking down onto him with a satisfied sigh.

Katie rocked against him, slowly at first. She'd only had sex twice before Marcus, and she and Lee had both been fumbling around trying to figure out how it worked. Marcus sighed and reached up for her breasts, rolling her nipples between his fingers. She gasped at the sensation, at the pleasure as she rocked against him. "Oh," she whispered, eyes flying open suddenly. "Right there feels really, really good."

"Didn't know you were a talker," he smirked, pinching her nipple gently.

"Me either," she admitted, moving faster against him. She groaned, arching her back as she picked up even more speed. One of his hands fell from her breasts to brush against her wet clit, and she made a soft keening noise. She moved faster, faster, almost frenzied, and Marcus grit his teeth as she tightened around him. She came, pulsing around his cock, and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from coming just then.

Without giving Katie much of a chance to catch her breath, he moved her to kneel over her coffee table. "I wasn't kidding," he murmured in her ear as he leaned in behind her. He slid into her from behind, and she immediately gasped at the feel of him inside her. She grasped the coffee table for balance as he slammed into her, as she bit her lip to keep from nearly screaming in pleasure. She closed her eyes as she panted, incoherently telling him she was close, close, nearly there, right there, just there, again, please, ohmerlinpleaserightthereYES.

He kicked off his clothes as she lay against the coffee table limply, struggling for breath. Marcus ran a hand along her spine and then gently cupped her bottom. "All right, Katie?" She nodded, that loopy grin on her face. "Good, because I'm not done with you yet."

Marcus carried her to her bedroom and slipped into her as soon as he was able. He knelt between her spread legs, hooking her knees over his shoulders and tilting her hips up over his thighs. She was bent nearly in two as he thrust into her, and she held onto him as she gasped with every deep thrust hitting home. She kept her eyes open this time, watching the intensity of his gaze over her, the strain of holding himself back. Katie scratched his back and tilted her hips further, deepening the angle he thrust into her. "Come with me," she panted.

"Going to anyway," he grunted, moving at a rapid and erratic pace. She was tightening, scratching at him, wriggling and then her body worked his as she came. He let go with a groan, eyes sliding shut.

It was like watching a veil fall away. The creased lines all smoothed out, and Marcus looked at peace for the first time that Katie had ever seen him. He collapsed down on top of her, hands tangled together, his face near the crook of her neck. She liked the feel of him there as he settled comfortably over her. She liked how his fingers moved softly against hers, how his hair tickled the skin right where her neck met her shoulder. She wrapped her other arm around him, rubbing his back gently. Katie smiled, eyes falling shut. She felt comfortable with him, though she knew it made no logical sense. Maybe if she hadn't met him, hadn't seen glimpses of him here and there, she would have thought it would be impossible to talk to him, let alone shag him.

"What're you smiling about, you daft bint?"

"Don't spoil the mood," she admonished playfully.

"There's a mood? Are you sure?"

Katie laughed at his surly tone. "Well, there _was."_ She rubbed his back, feeling the play of muscles beneath the skin. "You feel good."

He snorted and settled in comfortably on top of her. "You're definitely soft in the head."

_You have to stay with me, even after this is all sorted,_ she thought. He would probably leave and not look back. He would probably think she was silly and letting her hormones get away from her. But there was just something about him that she couldn't help but latch onto, something that she couldn't get enough of. He was thoughtful in some ways, even if he tried to hide it, even if he tried to growl loudly and keep others at bay.

"S'okay," she said instead, yawning. "Yours is hard enough for the both of us."

He swatted her head playfully, and they settled down to sleep.

***  
***


	4. Broken Strings

"What do you mean, you can't tell me anything?"

Angelina Johnson merely looked at Katie with a placid expression on her face. "We don't have any definite leads, Katie." Her voice was soothing. Too soothing.

"You'll tell him the moment my back is turned, won't you?" she asked resentfully, pointing at Marcus Flint. He was her shadow now, for better or for worse. While it had been wonderful to wake up with him in her arms, stroking his hair gently, she didn't like what it meant the rest of the time. Well, all right. That wasn't quite fair either. It had been fantastic to have him kissing her in the shower, then bending her over to have her right there. Her lips still tingled from his kiss before they apparated to Angelina's office.

Angelina sighed. "I'm sorry, Katie, really I am."

"Fine, I'm leaving. Discuss me without me, then." She stomped off over Angelina's protests, and Marcus let her stalk off into the sea of cubicles that made up Angelina's division of aurors. She sat down outside the area in the general hallway, crossing her arms in a huff.

"You could have called her back," Angelina accused Marcus.

"No point," he replied with a shrug. "You wouldn't discuss anything with her here anyway, and I should know what it is that you've found out."

"What makes you think I've found anything?"

Marcus leaned over and placed his palms on her desk. Anyone else might have been intimidated, but he and Angelina knew each other during their respective training in the war. She wasn't fazed by his behavior in the slightest, and he liked that about their friendship. "I know enough about you, Angelina. You will move heaven and earth if a friend is involved. So I know for a fact that none of your forensics people would have slept last night."

Angelina sighed. "Well, all right. You have me there. I don't have to tell you anything, Marcus. You're not even an auror."

"Unspeakables trump aurors, if I have to pull rank."

She shook her head at his bland tone. "Don't bother. They haven't found any matches yet. I can't tell you anything because I don't have anything. They made a list of the likely variants, but haven't narrowed it down yet. I don't know how long it'll take them. I'm sorry. I thought it was just a one time thing for the party. I didn't mean to drag you into this."

Marcus wasn't sorry at all. "Can't turn back time," he replied, shrugging and standing. "I don't mind. I didn't have any active cases anyway."

Angelina looked at him unhappily. "I'm still sorry. You must hate having that schedule of yours disrupted like this. I do appreciate you checking in on her every morning, though."

He shook his head somberly. "I'm going to have to do more than that, Angelina. The wards on her flat are atrocious."

Eyebrows crawling toward her hairline, Angelina nearly gulped in surprise. "Does Katie know that? She's never lived with anybody after Hogwarts."

"Of course I had to tell her," Marcus said. "I told her why, too. It might help if you told her what you told me. It would help keep her damn fool neck out of practice this afternoon."

Angelina pulled a face. "I forgot about that... She always used to practice for crazy hours back at Hogwarts, too." An interoffice memo flew in through her door and landed on her desk. Angelina frowned at it and then unfolded it. The frown grew deeper and she looked up at Marcus. "The preliminary tests on the locker room blood is back. Not human, but it's mermish."

Marcus would have guessed that it wasn't necessarily human, because the groundskeepers and security personnel had been intact. Plus, it took time for stalkers to escalate to harming people, and this one was just starting out on that path.

Still, mermish?

His frown was question enough. Angelina shrugged and handed over the memo. "They think it might be for some kind of esoteric bonding ritual."

Marcus wanted to crumple the memo and light it on fire. He handed it back to Angelina instead of giving in to his impulse. "I'll get Katie."

Katie didn't take the news well at all, but she bore up a lot better than Angelina thought she would have. She sank down into the chair across from Angelina's desk and stared at a corner of it while Angelina went into the specific problems they had. _I'm a case. I'm just some random case and they solve this kind of thing all the time._ Still, it was more difficult going through this than just listening to a bare bones rendition of Angelina's job at dinner parties.

"We can move you out of your flat today if we skip practice," Angelina was saying helpfully.

"Absolutely not." Katie's head snapped up and she leveled a glare at her friend. "I'm not caving to some bloody bastard determined to make my life miserable. I just got first string, Angie! _First string._ If I'm grounded like this, I'll lose it. I'll be lucky if they ever consider me for a spot ever again! And besides all that, flying keeps me sane. It clears my head and helps me think." She didn't even try to look at Marcus. He had already yelled at her enough that morning about the security measures at her flat.

She wasn't ready to move. It was her first flat out of Hogwarts, and it was a charming old place. It had history and character, and plenty of large windows with lots of light and an amazing view from the balcony off of the living room. She absolutely adored her flat, and she didn't want to leave it. Marcus couldn't convince her otherwise, no matter how much he yelled or glared or threatened to order her out. She would simply wait until the moment passed and return; he couldn't order her out every other moment, and they both knew it.

Angelina frowned at Katie, then glanced at Marcus. "I'm already asking too much, having you with her right now. This isn't an official request..."

"I'll watch her," he said quickly, cutting her off. "I'll just have to stay in her flat with her."

Katie made a strangled noise. And they were supposed to keep their relationship a secret how?

Angelina sighed, shaking her head. "I can't ask you to do that..."

"You know my work ethic," Marcus intoned darkly.

Flushing in embarrassment, Angelina nodded. "I remember." Something in her expression shifted and softened. "How could you even pull that one off?"

"Why wouldn't a couple want to live together?" he asked innocently.

Katie sucked in a pained breath and Angelina made a startled noise. "The press would've been all over that one," Angelina replied.

"Not if we kept it secret." He shrugged, though his stance was tense. "You know, Death Eater family and all that."

Katie looked at Marcus sharply; there was no Mark on his arm, never had been. His family, though... He had worked to distance himself from them. What else hadn't he told her about them? His stories had all stopped when his mother died. She didn't even know if he still played piano or hated to dance. She didn't know if he still had those urges to be the bully like he was at Hogwarts. She didn't know how he even became one if he had been protected so much.

Marcus didn't look at Katie, didn't dare to let Angelina suspect anything. She knew enough about his past already, and thought highly of him. While he didn't regret anything that had happened, he wasn't naïve enough to think that it wouldn't make some kind of negative impact on his career. Others have been kicked out for less.

Angelina leaned back in her chair and looked at them. "That's asking a lot from both of you," she said heavily. "I'm really sorry, Katie."

"At least he's my type," she replied flippantly, hoping to make Angelina feel better. It wouldn't be fair to have her worry about the arrangement when Katie wasn't exactly averse to it.

Angelina laughed, just as Katie had hoped. "Ever the optimist. All right. If we're going to do this, I really would like it if you didn't go to practice this afternoon."

"Forget it," Kaite said sweetly. "I have to face that locker room sometime."

"It's just a locker room. I meant the exposure on the pitch!" Angelina cried.

"I'm safest on the pitch, since I'm on my sodding broom. I'd've been most vulnerable in the locker room. And it wasn't _just_ anything. It was like another home, Angie. That was my _stuff_ he destroyed. Pictures, things that meant a lot to me. It would be like someone coming in and shredding everything on your desk, including pictures of George."

Angelina flinched at the mention of her fiancé George Weasley. "All right, I get the point."

"So I'm off to practice. Marcus can be my shadow for a bit, and maybe the press will pick up on it and maybe not. I don't give a flying fuck at this point. I just want to play the bloody game on the bloody team, already!"

Laughing despite herself, Angelina pushed them out of her office. "And if you don't get any points this afternoon, I'll hit you with a bludger myself!"

***

Marcus kissed her fiercely, shoving her up against the wall. "Daft bint," he growled as he moved to kiss her neck and jaw. "I told you not to go to practice."

Katie moaned and slipped her hands beneath his shirt. "I'm not the one getting mad at what happened. I'm fine now."

"Sodding arse shouldn't have hit that bludger at you."

"It's _Quidditch._ I get hurt, I get healed, so what? I got the quaffle and scored. I proved I belong on the team."

Marcus pulled her shirt up and over her head and tossed it aside. It landed somewhere in the vicinity of her kitchen. "I should order you not to go."

"Even if you could, I'd figure out some way to get back," Katie told him, unbuttoning his shirt. She smiled and kissed his mouth, tongue sliding into his mouth. "Face it, that's what I do. Would you really want me to change?"

"Yes," he lied. At her pointed stare, he relented. "No. Never."

She had wanted to get back to her flat and ask what it was that Angelina knew about him that Katie didn't but should. After all, Angelina wasn't shagging him, but she knew all sorts of secrets that Katie didn't. Marcus seemed to be full of them, and seemed to have no trouble keeping the truth about their relationship a secret. Perhaps it should have bothered her more.

Marcus kissed her hard, picking her up. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, half confused. She was still half dressed, so it would've made shagging her up against the wall a little difficult. He carried her this way to her bedroom, then tilted her onto her bed. He divested her of the rest of her clothes, then kicked his off. He thrust into her, her legs drawn up around his waist and her nails raking down his back. "Yes, yes, like that," she groaned. She made soft mewling noises, clawing at him, bucking beneath him. It reminded him that she was fine, she was alive, she wasn't hurt, this stalker was just a shadow on the pitch, nothing more. Katie wasn't going anywhere, wasn't in danger.

She clutched at him, moaning, head lolling back as she rocked against him. She pressed her open mouth to his neck, struggling to breathe, unable to stop herself from moaning. He started to go faster and harder as her hands clutched him tighter against her. She came with a ferocity that surprised her, and she collapsed beneath him. In a few more thrusts, he came as well.

Katie ran her hands along his back and into his hair. "If this is how you get after practice, I won't mind it if you follow me about," she teased. He growled at her, but didn't answer. "Oh, don't be like that. It's just a game, surely you remember. You were guilty enough of dirty tactics back then, and I was hurt just as badly." She ruffled his hair and grinned. "Mmm. Practice was fantastic overall, though. Not much of an adjustment from second to first string..."

"I was watching the practice," he murmured, running his fingertips along her arm. "And the stands, and the locker rooms, and even the sky overhead."

"Whatever for?"

"He had pictures of you in flight. He had to get them somehow."

Katie felt a chill roll through her that had nothing to do with the room's temperature. "You don't think this is going away, do you?"

"You saw your locker room."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't even get it. I'm not that special. I just play Quidditch. I only just got onto the main team. I'm not special."

His grip on her arm tightened, and he rose to his forearms above her to stare into her eyes. "Yes, you are."

"What?"

Marcus took in her wide eyed gaze and wanted to kick himself. She obviously didn't think of him that way, obviously didn't think of this as more than fun for the moment. "He thinks you are. It doesn't matter what you think, but what he considers reality. He's not going to stop until something happens."

"Something," she echoed dumbly.

"He has you, or he's done with you," Marcus told her bluntly. "These things don't usually end well," he warned her. "I won't let that happen."

Katie touched his face with her fingertips and smiled. "I know." _And then you'll be gone, and it'll be like this was just a dream, another secret for you to keep._

Marcus took in her lost expression and tried to smile at her. "It might not be that bad," he told her. "I'm the pessimist, you said. I always prepare for the worst."

"Has it been that bad before?" she asked gently, wondering what kind of answer she might get.

His jaw tightened and he nodded. "I learned the hard way to be prepared."

"What happened?" she asked directly.

He opened his mouth and then snapped it shut. "It's over. It doesn't matter."

"It still does if it still bothers you."

Marcus shook his head and settled back on top of her. "It's over now. You're my focus now."

She wishes she could believe it was more than just as a case, more than just a random explosion of hormones and potions and proximity. He would have said something by now if it was more than that, wouldn't he?

Marcus took her silence as surprise or chagrin. She couldn't want him for anything more than she had him, he was sure of it. "You'll have your life back to normal soon enough," he assured her. "You don't have to put up with my hovering anymore."

Something in her shriveled at the words, but Katie would never let him know it. "Oh."

"Angelina's driving her forensics team pretty hard. They'll track down the apothecary soon enough, and we'll track down who placed the order. They're good. You don't have to worry about the bastard getting away with this."

Katie let her eyes fall shut. She didn't want him getting away with anything, certainly. But she didn't want Marcus to leave her, either. Funny how that worked. Not long ago, she would have been just as intimidated as anyone else. Now, she could see the chinks in that façade, and she wanted the rest of him laid bare for her.

She just didn't think he was willing.

She dreamed of the open sky, a clear blue as far as the eye could see. Even the clouds couldn't mar this perfect blue sky. They were wispy at best, scattered around only to highlight the perfect shade of blue. She was on her broom, of course, hovering within this perfect field of blue. She was racing, feeling the wind whip past her hair and sending it flying behind her. She had her field goggles and her Quidditch kit on, the official Puddlemere jersey on her back.

Only, her name on it read Flint instead of Bell.

Jarred, Katie slowed down and looked around herself in surprise. Now there was a ground, a field and the stands of a full Quidditch pitch beneath her. Somehow she had gotten so high that she had almost forgotten about the stands full of spectators below her.

Grinning at the cheering crowds, Katie circled and zoomed back down toward the pitch. She was tucked low against the broom, quaffle clutched tightly to her chest. She didn't know where it had come from, but that didn't matter. It was a dream, she was flying, and it was the cheer of the crowds in her ears that drove her faster.

She didn't recognize the colors of the opposing team, a sea of blank faces over black and forest green accents. The rest of her teammates seemed muted somehow, their faces mere impressions of the faces she knew from practice. Even Oliver, first string Keeper for years now, was nothing more than a vague blur waiting to protect the goalposts from an opponent's quaffle.

Katie let the eerie realization pass through her. That didn't matter. She was playing Quidditch, and she was playing well. This was her world, her place to shine and matter. Here, she was special. Here, she was something else.

She saw a shift in the darker uniform colors to her right, and turned her head as she raced toward the opposing team's goalposts. Someone was keeping pace with her, leering at her, face still vague and shadowy but somehow in sharper relief than the others on that strange team.

He surged ahead of her slightly, just enough for her to clearly read STALKER 13 on his back.

Okay, that was obvious. Katie slowed down, quaffle still clutched to her chest. It was a flimsy shield so far up in the sky, and suddenly the perfect shade of blue didn't look so perfect any longer. It was more of a blue-gray, the color of a threatening sky, the color of a sky just before the clouds rolled in and pelted the pitch with rain. She shivered, feeling gooseflesh start to rise along her arms.

The stalker had dark hair beneath his hooded kit, and the dark hollows in his face where his eyes should have been stared at her. It was desperate, though his masklike face made it difficult to tell just by looking at him.

_I'll have you,_ he was telling her. She didn't know how she knew what he was saying, since he didn't speak with a voice, but she knew. It was unsettling.

"I have to go play," she told him, her voice stronger than she thought it could be. She wasn't watching herself fly around any longer, but was looking at this hovering spectre as if she was actually flying across a pitch.

_You'll do as I say,_ he told her, hooked hands around his broom. _You'll only play if I want you to, if I allow it. You're mine, you always were. You just never knew it. But I'll show you, Katie. I'll show you. I'll prove it to you._

"What are you—?" she began, startled.

He was zooming toward her, on a collision course. She managed to fly out of his way, but it sent her into a tailspin. She was out of control, zooming down toward the ground in faster and faster circles. He hovered above, watching her with his empty eye sockets, a grim line to his mouth. He hovered there, no broom in sight any longer.

Looking down at herself, she was falling face first toward the ground. She didn't have her broom any longer, didn't have the quaffle. She wasn't even in a Quidditch pitch any longer. She was just in freefall beneath an iron gray sky, clouds threatening rain. The ground was full of jagged rocks and edges, and there was no way to stop her rapid descent.

_I told you. You do as I say. I won't save you for anyone else, just for me. I'd rather see you dead than with anyone else._

Katie screamed herself awake when she hit the ground, shattering to pieces on impact like a glass figurine hitting the ground.

Marcus awoke instantly, gathering her up into his arms. She clung to him, shivering and trembling as he rained kisses on her face. He didn't have any nonsense shushing or comforting noises to make, but she was comforted anyway. His presence was enough for that. He was there, and understood, and he was going to make it right. He was going to fix things, so that she didn't feel broken or confused or threatened by a shadow she couldn't even see.

Damn if she hadn't fallen for the taciturn Unspeakable, and she didn't think he felt the same way.

***  
***


	5. Inspiration

As far as security detail went, at least following Katie Bell around was fairly easy. Marcus spent an inordinate amount of time looking lazy around the practice pitch, then he went home with her and had incredible sex before falling asleep. He spent the time eyeing the pitch surreptitiously, checking to see if there were any faces about that shouldn't be, and trying to see if any new letters or pictures arrived.

After about a week, one arrived at the Puddlemere office. There was no owl delivery or postmark, just like the other ones. Instead of a letter in this one, Katie's magical photograph had been sliced to ribbons, her eyes and throat colored over in red.

Security was doubled on the practice pitch; the photograph had clearly been taken the day before the envelope was found slipped beneath the door at the office. Katie found Marcus even more unmanageable afterward, wanting to deny her the practice time again. In the meantime, the possible potion variants were narrowed down to one of five different libido potions and one of six different obedience potions. Though, considering that Katie still found it impossible to counter any of his direct commands, three of those obedience potions were likely about to be struck from the list. Very few lasted for more than a week, and especially not ones that used the materials found within her system when it was discovered. Tracking down every apothecary in England was going to take time, even with the use of apparition. And unfortunately, that also assumed that the stalker wasn't going to use long distance apparition.

Jacob Valentine, the reserve Keeper, sometimes took to keeping Marcus company. "She's a fabulous flier," he told Marcus the first day. "How much do you know about the game?"

"I was Chaser at Hogwarts," Marcus replied in a surly tone, not looking at the reserve Keeper.

He chuckled. "I stand corrected, then. I'd've thought Katie would wind up with a Beater. I think I owe Hector five quid."

"You were betting on who she would date?" Marcus asked, incredulous.

"Well, there aren't many girls on the team, in case you haven't noticed. It's how most of us wind up passing time, wondering if there's a certain position that appeals most. Katie's all about the game, so we knew she would only go for someone who's a player or was one."

Marcus grunted a bit unhappily at that bit of news. While he had only been there for a week, and the idea was to make it seem as though they had a relationship, it burned to think it wasn't truly real. He turned his head and watched Katie land smoothly on the pitch after practice and wave at someone just out of his field of vision. "You know who that is she's waving at?"

Jacob looked over and laughed. "Don't tell me you're the jealous type, Marcus."

Marcus grit his teeth and glowered at Jacob. "Well? Who is that?"

"One of the groundskeepers," Jacob said, laughing. "He's eighty if he's a day, and I know that he couldn't possibly be after Katie. He treats all of us like his grandchildren."

"What's his name?"

"We all call him Hedge, since he takes care of the hedges. Dunno what his real name is, actually. A lot of the groundskeepers or guards are like that. You nod at them and you know them by face. Maybe you strike up a conversation and know a first name or two, but they're kind of just there. They're in the background because they're always here."

And then it clicked.

Marcus smiled at Jacob. He looked over at Hedge, who waved at all the players the same way before turning back to resume clipping his hedges with the pride of a job well done. "You're right. It's silly. Hedge would never hurt Katie," he said.

Jacob stood. "Of course not. None of us would. She's a great girl. You're a lucky man, Marcus. Hey, maybe Leanne and I should meet up with you and Katie for dinner sometime? I know Leanne hasn't been out with Katie for a while, with the scare and all. If there's more of us, it should be all right."

"Sure," Marcus murmured, not really listening. "Some night Katie's free from practice."

At Jacob's snort, Marcus turned to look at him. "Marcus, you have it bad, my friend." He grinned playfully at the other man and shook his head. "She's got you all wrapped up in what she wants? You've fallen hard."

Marcus didn't even bother to deny it. It was true, even if not precisely in the way Jacob thought it was. "I'll give Katie your hellos," Marcus told him, getting up to head toward the locker rooms. He took better notice of the pitch staff members, though Jacob was right. They were trained to be unobtrusive in their care of the pitch. They weren't supposed to be noticed and they weren't supposed to cause trouble. They just tended to fade into the background.

It was a good thing that Marcus knew how to find those kinds of people.

***

Marcus left Katie at her flat as she cooked something for dinner. He had told her that he was getting a few more essentials from his own flat, but he had to find Angelina. She didn't answer his patronus from the pitch, and he was worried that she would be up to her eyes in paperwork that didn't pertain to Katie at all.

She wasn't in her office. Half of her team wasn't in the office, either. He frowned and nodded at one of the random aurors in one of the cubicles. "Where's Johnson?"

"There was a raid on a Death Eater's house. Denton needed help and got Johnson involved this afternoon." The auror took in Malcolm's scowl and the identification tag he had to wear in the Ministry offices. "Is there anything I can help with?" she asked, almost timidly.

He hadn't wanted to involve anyone else, but he had no choice. "I suppose so. You heard of Katie Bell and her stalker situation?"

The auror nodded; everyone heard about it and had helped out at some capacity or another.

"I need all of the groundskeepers and security staff at the Puddlemere practice pitch checked out. _Anything_ might be important."

She nodded and left the office to start the search. With a sigh, Marcus went back to his flat to grab a few things. It wouldn't do to return without anything from his apartment.

***

As much as Marcus wished that everything could move rapidly, it was proving difficult to get all the information together. One team was interviewing apothecaries, one was running background checks on all the pitch employees. When not at practice, Katie used to spend time on the pitch anyway, randomly chatting with people she didn't always know. Marcus put a stop to that immediately. It was a horrible security risk.

"Well, then, what would you have me do all day?" Katie had asked. She slouched on her couch, glaring at him mockingly. "I do nothing but Quidditch. What do you want me to do?"

His leer was answer enough. He slid one hand down her belly and tucked his fingers beneath the waistband of her jeans. "Is this something you want to do?" he asked, leaning against her. His mouth was next to her ear, and he took her earlobe into his mouth. Katie shivered in his embrace, her arms sliding around him.

"I think I could be convinced," she whispered, grinning against his neck.

His fingers found her sex easily, sliding into the wet sheath. He moved to kiss her mouth, his fingers deep inside of her and his thumb on her clit. She clutched at him, moaning, head lolling back as she rocked against his hand. He drank in the sound of her, the feel of her as she clung to him. Marcus kissed her deeply, his tongue in her mouth and his other hand cupping her breast through her loose T shirt. He moved from one breast to the other, his fingers driving into her relentlessly, slick with her pleasure. He could feel her body tighten, her breath become more ragged. She came with a hoarse cry, convulsing around his soaked fingers.

"Marcus," Katie moaned, hands sliding down his broad back. "Don't stop," she whimpered, when it seemed as though he was about to withdraw his hand.

He chuckled. "Like that, do you?"

"Too much," she whispered, tucking her head into the curve of his neck. "Marcus," she moaned, pressing her lips to his skin. _I want you to stay with me,_ she thought, but only just managed to keep herself from saying it aloud. She didn't know how he would respond to them.

Marcus moved his fingers back and forth inside her and then across her clit. She pressed her open mouth to his neck, unable to stop herself from moaning and clutching him close. She began to pant as his fingers moved faster inside of her, as her legs fell open wider and her hips bucked higher and harder against his hand. She cried out when she came again, head lolling to the side.

He withdrew his hand against her protests just long enough to pull off her clothes and then pull her to the floor. Katie whimpered as he took off his own, reaching for him. "Greedy, aren't you?" he asked curiously.

_I love you,_ she wanted to say. She pulled him down and kissed him instead.

Katie watched as he positioned himself, then sank deeply into her. She sighed contentedly at the feel of him inside of her. "I needed you to do that," she murmured, wrapping her arms around him. _I need you to stay._

"What are you thinking?" he murmured, moving slowly against her. Katie moaned incoherently, head lolling. She had looked so serious for a moment there, he was almost concerned he'd hurt her somehow. "Tell me."

The obedience potion kicked in, damn it all. "I love you," she blurted.

Stunned, Marcus froze for a split second. "You do?" he asked, eyes wide. She nodded hesitantly; this certainly wasn't how she intended to tell him.

He seized her mouth in a fevered kiss, his hands tangled in her hair. She kissed him back, hot and open, glad her words haven't scared him away. Katie rocked against him, her hands sliding down his back to his buttocks. She pulled him deeper inside of her, and he groaned at the sensation. He started to go faster and harder as her breath fractured in his mouth. He could feel her body tighten around his, could feel her struggling to keep from coming. _Let go,_ he thought, thrusting harder inside of her. Almost as if she could follow his thoughts, her fingers tightened on his buttocks and her back arched as she came, pulsing all around him.

Marcus came soon after, and settled himself gingerly on top of her. He stroked her cheek gently, curling a lock of her hair around his finger. "You love me? Really?"

Katie sighed. "I wasn't going to tell you this way."

"Were you ever?"

She sighed again, noting that he wasn't replying in kind. "I didn't know if you even wanted to hear it," she replied in a soft voice.

He kissed her again, intent and almost furious. "Of course I do," he told her, staring at her. "I didn't think you would want me to stay after this bastard's caught."

"Then what did you think this was?"

"I was convenient?"

Katie smacked his chest. "You know, for all that you have that file on me, you can be such a bloody idiot!" She shoved him off of her and started gathering up her clothes. "Seriously, Marcus, did you really think I'm that type?"

"No," he said in a low tone, reaching for her. She stilled as he caught her wrist. "But why would you want me around? I'm no knight in shining armor, Katie."

"Do you really think that's what I want?"

"You think I'm a good man, and I'm hardly that."

"Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do," Katie told him evenly.

"Voltaire? Nice one." Marcus pulled her down to sit on the floor beside him. "I don't know what Angelina might've told you about me..."

"Nothing," Katie interrupted. "I never knew you knew her before all this started."

Marcus nodded slowly. "I'm glad. My business should be my own to discuss."

"So what happened, then? What changed you?"

"You say that like it was a singular event."

"What would Angie know?" Katie challenged, jaw set. He was being evasive, probably hoping that she would let it drop. But unless he ordered her to, her curiosity wouldn't let her.

He sighed. "I told you I avoided joining the Death Eaters like my brothers did." Katie nodded when he paused. "My first job as an Unspeakable was to hunt Death Eaters. Aurors had that, too, but we had the more difficult cases. We had the ones where we were authorized to use lethal force." Katie's heart sank at the bleak tone in his voice. She reached out and squeezed his hand tightly in support.

"Go on," she urged when he fell silent.

"I killed my brother."

She blinked at the flat tone of voice. "What?"

"I killed my brother," he repeated in the same flat, dead tone. "Oh, he had Angelina and three other Aurors hostage," he continued, his tone becoming harsh and angry. "I didn't try hard enough to talk him down, didn't try hard enough to convince him there were other alternatives than death. He was going to kill her, so I killed him first."

Katie wrapped her arms around him, feeling like a puzzle piece had just been found. "And because nobody blames you..."

"I didn't think," he told her simply. "He didn't have to die. I was too busy with the debriefings to even go to the funeral."

"Then we should go visit," Katie told him gently. "As soon as you feel comfortable, so you can say goodbye."

"That won't help."

"I think you'd be surprised."

He closed his hands over hers. "Why is it that you accept that?" he asked, unable to keep the wonder out of his voice. He was still so disgusted with himself.

"I never knew him," she answered with a shrug. "So I can't really feel sorry. If it was him or Angie, I'd prefer Angie, too." She leaned against him. "And if it was him or you, I'd pick you every time."

"You don't even know me very well."

"I know enough about how you are now," Katie replied simply. "Some things you can't lie about, and you've never tried."

"Oh? Like what?"

"You've never abused the obedience potion effects," Katie said, shrugging. "You care about your job and doing the right thing. Maybe you don't go about it on the up and up, but you do try your best. I don't think it's completely awful." She tilted her face to look at him. "And you're keeping me safe. How can I not think you're good enough for me?"

"Your standards are awfully low," he intoned morosely.

Katie gave him a playful bump on the shoulder. "You are just bound and determined not to be happy, aren't you?" She grew serious. "It probably sounds callous of me, but you can't mourn forever. Killing yourself slowly won't bring him back."

He wanted to shout at her that she didn't understand, couldn't understand. She was an only child, had never grown up with a full family. She didn't know what it was like to have brothers, to have someone else looking out for her. Katie couldn't understand what it was like to know that the only reason he was alive was that he had to sacrifice the life of his brother.

Marcus kept silent, however. There was no point in arguing with her. It was hanging between them now, and she was determined to see past it. Marcus wasn't sure he could; it had all but defined him for years.

"C'mon, then. We're getting dressed and going out."

"What?"

"Someplace public and splashy and nice. I want to hold your hand and kiss you and make everyone else jealous that we're together and happier than they are." Katie said with a forced cheerful tone. He still hadn't admitted a damn thing to her, though she interpreted his protective streak toward her as love. What else could it be?

He lofted an eyebrow at her, just as she thought he might. "That's rather dangerous."

"I've you to protect me. You'll keep me safe. And you're the one that gets to take me home and shag me senseless."

Marcus allowed her to pull him into a more cheerful mood. "All right, then. Let's go."

Later, he would regret it.

***

An owl arriving on the pitch for Marcus declared the profiles of all pitch employees compiled and waiting on his desk for his perusal. He rolled his eyes and waved over at Katie, who was still waiting for her turn up in the air. "I've got to go in to the office briefly. After practice, I want you to apparate directly home and stay there."

She rolled her eyes at him and tried not to stick her tongue out at him for good measure. "All right, Marcus. I'll be fine. Go do whatever it is you need to do."

Marcus nodded absently at the faces that had started to grow familiar as he walked to the apparition point. He landed right by his office, and proceeded to go through the thick stack of employee dossiers he had asked for. As bleary eyed as it made him, he had to go through each of the files personally. He couldn't trust it to an outside source that wouldn't understand what he was looking for. Especially given the fact that he didn't exactly know what he was looking for just yet, but would know once he found it.

He was looking for a pattern. He knew the timeline of dates inside and out, as well as all of the letter contents and the vague messages they seemed to contain. Having spent time with Katie on the pitch, he understood better the ins and outs of the scheduling process and how things worked during practice sessions. She was oblivious because she had other things to worry about when flying through the air. On the ground, Marcus could afford his vigilance.

Hedge's real name was Joseph Battaglia, and he had worked as a groundskeeper for over fifty years. His father had worked for Puddlemere as well, and his father before that. His grandson was planning to try out for the reserve team the following spring, which of course made him proud. The interesting detail was that sometimes he made suggestions to the hiring staff regarding the potential candidates. That had stopped some years before, but for the longest time his opinion was highly regarded.

Marcus kept going through the other groundskeeper and security staff. He knew he would find a pattern somewhere, something that coincided with the letters Katie had received, or the events that had led to veiled threats and now overt aggression.

His eye fell onto Charles Brook, a relatively recent hiring. Hedge hadn't been involved in that one, as Charles had started part time and had been promoted to full time. Marcus almost passed over the file when he noticed the change in position.

Charles had been promoted to full time staff just the month before the letters to Katie started in earnest. He had been part time because he had been attending university and had expected to get a tony position in management. Marcus paged through the dossier until he saw the letter of reprimand from the university's work study program.

_Charles can certainly plan ahead and is an independent thinker. Unfortunately, he takes things too personally and is easily overwrought by business practices. During a conference, he came to blows with a superior, who was kind enough to waive the right to trial despite the extent of the injuries sustained. Charles should have very limited exposure to tense situations..._

And Katie, as Katie was wont to do, likely smiled and made a perfectly innocuous comment. He would have seized on it, would have seen it as the divine signal from heaven that the letters kept rambling on and on about.

Charles had been in Katie's year at school, had also been a Gryffindor. He had been with her, day in and day out, and Katie had never known he had existed. Had he been pining after her all that time? Had he really been stalking her since Hogwarts?

Marcus backed away from his desk and ran to the apparition point. Katie was gone, and he cursed inwardly. He looked around the groundskeepers already beginning to sweep up and prune back some of the hedges. He raised his wand to apparate to Katie's apartment.

Nothing happened.

Frowning deeply, Marcus tried again. Nothing happened, not even a hop.

He tried again, then one more time. He growled and gripped his wand in a tight, white knuckled grip. This made no sense. He was allowed to apparate in and out of the grounds. He had done it not so long ago. Marcus' mind kept sticking on that point. _I did it before!_

"Are you headed somewhere with anti-apparition wards?" Hedge asked, coming closer with his ever present clippers. "Miss Katie didn't have that problem when she left."

Anti-apparition wards. Marcus felt a chill roll through his spine.

"How can you tell it's anti-apparition wards?"

"Most of the time, you can't even go anywhere," Hedge told him with a shrug. "Kind of like the wards that are over the pitch."

"There are wards on the pitch?" he asked. He had never known that.

"Well, sure. It wouldn't do to have some poor bugger bollocksing up his coordinates and popping in right in the middle of a game. They're fairly weak, since even insects wind up dinging on those kinds of simple wards. So one of our jobs is doing the daily upkeep."

"All the groundskeepers do that?" Marcus asked, curious.

"All of us can. It's pretty much fallen on Charlie, Dexter and Jonathan to do. They're faster with their wand work than us old timers."

Marcus' blood ran cold. "Thanks, Hedge," he murmured without thinking.

Hedge waved and kept going to the next batch of hedges that needed trimming. Marcus apparated two blocks away from Katie's flat and broke out into a run.

He could only hope he made it in time.

***  
***


	6. Battlefield

Katie heard the pop of someone apparating into her flat. "Marcus? I'm in here!" she called out from the kitchen. She was putting away the breakfast dishes and getting ready to start making dinner. It had been lovely to go out to dinner with Marcus, to sit in a restaurant and chat as if they had an ordinary sort of relationship. He still hadn't said anything one way or another about whether he loved her or not, but she couldn't help to think that he did.

The cadence of the footsteps behind her didn't sound the same. She turned with a frown, about to open her mouth when she saw that it wasn't Marcus in front of her.

He was familiar, which didn't help matters much. This wasn't someone she wanted in her home, and suddenly all she could think was _Fuck, Marcus was right I didn't have enough wards on this place oh Merlin I'm fucking in trouble and Marcus should be here I don't know I might be fast enough my wand's in my hair but he's staring and oh Merlin this is my stalker and why do I know his face?!_

He was smiling at her, a slight curve to his mouth and a gleam in his eye that didn't seem wholly sane. "Hello, Kaitlyn," he said sweetly, as if he had any right to be there, any right to be using her formal name.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked, her hand tight on the porcelain dish in her hand. Her voice betrayed none of her nerves, which had kicked into overdrive. She could see everything in sharp detail, could feel the blood rushing through her veins and her heart thudding in her chest. Fight or flight, and she was getting ready to do both.

He was just about the same height as her, with dark hair, almost black in color. His eyes were dark as well, and in the shadows of her flat he seemed to have empty gaping holes for eyes. She flashed back to her nightmare, and barely repressed a shudder. His mouth was the only slash of color on his otherwise pale face, a twist to them that told her that he wasn't quite right. He was in the Puddlemere groundskeeper uniform, still with grass stains on the knees and dirt on his sleeves. This was how he knew her. This was how he had gotten past security measures to take pictures of her in flight, this was how he always seemed to know what she was up to. He had always been there, had always been overlooked. He was a ghost on the stands, the secret in the back of everyone's minds.

Even before he opened his mouth, Katie had the sudden thought she was going to die.

"Kaitlyn," he began, voice oddly familiar and strange at once. "Don't you remember me?" She was stubbornly silent, and he stepped forward slightly. "I sat next to you every day in Charms and Transfigurations. I tried to in Potions, but that brat Leanne always got there first. I was partnered with you once in Defense." His voice was almost desperate, his expression fevered. "Don't you remember me?"

Oh, holy _fuck,_ she was doomed.

"It doesn't explain why you're here now," she said, glad her voice wasn't trembling. She felt coiled and ready to spring, that same sensation she had just before springing into the air during practice. Only now, she wasn't on the pitch, and she wasn't on a broom.

"We belong together, you and I," he said in a sing song. "Don't remember? I told you." His eyes were hard. "I've always told you."

She threw the plate at his head just before he moved. She ran in the opposite direction, yanking her wand from where it was pinning up her hair in a sloppy bun along with a pair of hair sticks. "Protego!" she shouted, and a shield sprung up behind her.

He ran headlong into her shield, teeth bared and hands hooked into claws. He snarled, the desperation turning into rage.

Her flat was small. Too small.

Katie raised her wand to apparate, but nothing happened. Again, but nothing happened.

Her flat was so very small.

Her entire flat had a fairly open air design, which she had always loved. There were two entrances to the kitchen, and she had blocked the one she had just used to escape. That still left the other entrance. She turned to face it when she realized she couldn't simply apparate out of her flat to somewhere safe, like the open pitch or the Ministry. He was standing there, snarling, wand in hand. "You shouldn't run from your true destiny, Kaitlyn. That isn't very nice."

She raised her wand, but he was just a touch faster. "Expelliarmus!"

As her wand flew from her hand, Katie was thrown back against the wall of her living room. She fell to the floor, crumpled in a heap just next to her coffee table. Dazed, she could only watch as he approached, both wands in his hands. "Why do you run from fate?" he asked, sounding almost sad. He knelt beside her and stroked her hair gently, almost lovingly. "I think he corrupted you. Yes, that must be it. You were waiting for that Death Eater. He's corrupted you, Kaitlyn. He's defiled the very thing that made you worthy." His hands came down to cup her face, his thumb tracing her lips. "It's all right, Kaitlyn. I'm here now. I'll cleanse you, and you will be reborn as a thing of true beauty."

She drew back her fist and punched him in the nose. As he howled, clutching at his face, Katie scuttled back and away from him, prepared to run out of reach. He snagged her ankle as she ran past, yanking hard. She fell, crashing down to the floor. Her arms were in front of her, and she narrowly missed smashing her face into the hardwood she had fallen in love with.

He pulled her back toward him, growling and snarling like an animal. Katie could hear screaming, and she dimly realized it was her. She was screaming, clawing at the floor and trying to pull herself out of his grasp. He refused to be kicked off, refused to budge even when her other heel connected with his face. He growled even louder, fingers digging into her other ankle even tighter. He _pulled,_ and then her fingertips slipped on the wood. She was pulled bodily beneath him, and she was sobbing and screaming in fear.

She was going to die. He was probably going to rape her and then kill her, and she was going to die, and she would never see Marcus again.

He slapped her. "Quiet!" he hissed, eyes glittering dangerously.

Katie fell silent, whimpering in fear. Her eyes were large and frightened, taking in his crazed look. There was nothing to say, then, was there?

"I forgive you," he told her earnestly, flipping her onto her back. He had her hands caught in one of his, and his other hand held her jaw tightly in place. "I forgive you, because I know you aren't yourself. I know he's tainted you, and I know he's taken advantage. I understand you're frightened, Kaitlyn. You don't know what the truth is like I do. So I can forgive you. But I can't trust you, and that pains me more than you know."

Katie whimpered when he took off his belt with one hand and then flipped her back to her stomach again. "Please, don't," she pleaded.

He leaned down against her as he tied her wrists together behind her back with his belt. "Kaitlyn, I would never harm you," he told her earnestly. "You must believe me. I love you. I've always loved you." He stroked her hair gently, lips hovering next to her ear. She had always wanted to hear those words, but from Marcus. "I've loved you from the moment I saw you at Hogwarts, when you sat down next to me after we were sorted. I knew it was meant to be. Bell and Brook, just like that."

Katie closed her eyes and leaned her forehead on the cool hardwood floor. She remembered him now, vaguely. Her head had been so full of Quidditch and classes and then getting out of school, she had never paid attention to Charlie Brook mooning over her in classes. It was harmless, she had thought. Harmless, since she had barely ever spoken with him, and he had certainly never said anything to her. He had never let on how obsessed he had become, how crazed. She had thought it was the same as every other boy, staring at her curves and then moving on to the next girl with the bigger chest and wider hips and prettier smile. She was the Quidditch girl in her year, she was the one always spending time with the year above because she was on the team and that was all she cared about.

Harmless. How wrong she was.

He turned her to her side, hands too close to her throat for her liking. "I simply have to undo the potions I've given you," he was saying, reaching into a pocket in his uniform. "He used them to his advantage, the bastard. But it's all right. I know how to fix this. You'll be bright and beautiful again, and you'll lose the taint of him."

Charles shoved a flask against her lips. When she refused to drink it, he pinched her nose shut. As much as she tried to resist it, she had to breathe sometime, and kicking into empty space did nothing but waste what little oxygen she had in her lungs. The potion burned going down her throat, whatever it was, and she coughed and choked.

"There, there," he soothed, pulling the hair sticks out and tossing them aside. He stroked her hair and cheek as she coughed, heaving from the effort it took to breathe. "It'll all be over soon. Every nasty thing he's ever done will be gone, I promise you."

Katie could only cough in reply.

"I'll be so good to you," he crooned, fingers combing through her hair. "You'll see. You'll be worshiped properly, completely. Maybe you can still play," he said, suddenly clutching at her hair tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut to keep from crying out, since she was nauseous. Whatever was in the potion was playing havoc on her insides, and she was afraid to throw up. "Maybe. We'll have to see if you've been a good girl first. He's tainted you, made you over into something else. You don't have time for anyone anymore, no time for _me."_ He pulled on her hair, and Katie couldn't help but choke as she cried out.

Charles looked down impassively as she began to vomit over the floor and his legs where he had sat down beside her. "There you go, sweetheart. There you go. Get it all out. Get all of the bad stuff out of you. Keep that up. It's all right. It's going to be all right."

Katie could only pray that she didn't drown in her own vomit.

"I have a place ready for you. It's like your flat a bit, I know how much you love your flat," he was saying, as if her choking wasn't bothersome at all. "I have clothes and books and puzzles and all kinds of lovely things there for us to pass the time. And when you're ready, when you've been good and it's time, you can fly again." He smoothed her head down against her scalp. "You have to understand, Kaitlyn, you belong to me. You always have, you just didn't know it. But now you do, and now he's purged from you. You belong to me, and now you'll be better. You are back on the path set for you, the path with me."

He leaned down over her, and Katie cringed backward, away from him. He looked as though he would kiss her, despite the vomit on her lips and the stench of bile and unknown potion mixed with stomach acid.

Just then, Marcus kicked the front door in. It banged into the wall, startling Charles. His and Katie's wands were on the floor, on the other side of the coffee table. Charles dropped Katie's head onto the floor with a bang as he eyed the two wands. As he dove for them, Marcus mercilessly drove spell after spell at his back. His expression was a cold mask, his eyes full of rage.

Katie had never been so glad to see him before.

She couldn't sit up, and she was still nauseous and dizzy from whatever the potion had been. The flask was even still on the floor next to her. She hadn't heard what spells he had hit Charles with, but she saw from the brief glimpse of his face that he was _this close_ to losing his control. He was _this close_ to possibly killing Charles right there on the spot.

It grew quiet, and she heard the sound of a patronus messenger being sent. She tried to shimmy around, to get a better look, but her socked feet didn't have any purchase on the hardwood.

Marcus knelt next to her and freed her hands. "Katie," he whispered, gathering her up into his arm. "Merlin, Katie, I thought I'd lost you. I was afraid I wouldn't get here in time."

Katie clung to him as he rocked her. There was the sound of apparition after a few moments; whatever Charles had done was undone now. She heard voices, some of which sounded familiar and were likely Angelina and her aurors. Katie didn't care. She was in Marcus' arms, and he was with her, and she was safe.

She was safe, and that was all that mattered.

***

Katie was quietly sent to St. Mungo's for a complete workup as Charles was just as quietly sent away to Azkaban. It never even made it to the Prophet, much like her stalking had never made it.

It was like nothing had happened at all, and Katie was merely jumping at shadows.

Marcus had arrived the first day she had been at St. Mungo's, but hadn't been allowed to see her. Immediate family only, and the Bells hadn't known about his involvement in the case. They had only seen him in the gossip pages recently, but didn't think it was important enough to permit him entry. Katie had tried to insist, but the Bells were oblivious.

Even after her discharge and clearance to return to flight, he didn't visit. Katie stood in her living room, which had been cleaned and rearranged. Angelina had stopped by at Mungo's to say that everything was taken care of. The potions she had been forced to ingest left no lasting damage and indeed had been to counteract the particular potions he had dosed her with. She was of relatively sound mind and body, so Angelina had thought it would be helpful to have her flat prepared for her arrival home.

Katie looked around the immaculate living room and wanted to cry. Somehow, seeing all evidence of her stalker and her ordeal removed seemed to make her feel worse. It was as if nothing had happened, as if she had made the whole thing up. It was if everything over the past several weeks had never happened, as if she hadn't fallen in love with an impossible man that seemed determined to disappear.

Well, bugger that.

She apparated to the Ministry and headed straight to the Unspeakables' department. Of course no one wanted to direct her, or even admit that she was allowed in the department. She sent withering glares at every secretary that tried to misdirect her, until finally one brought her to Unspeakable Marcus Flint's office. Katie stared at the door for a long second before entering it.

Marcus was at his desk, stacks of papers all around him. While he hadn't had any active cases when Angelina called him, he had been behind on the paperwork associated with the cases he had just finished. Paperwork had increased while he was away, and now he was stuck doing all of it at once. Just as well; he had been told in no uncertain terms by Katie's father that he was no longer welcome in her life. "She doesn't need or want you with her," the man had said firmly. "It's best if you just leave."

He had thought it was too good to be true that she would love him, and chalked it up to residual potion damage. Why would she love him after all of the things he had done, after all? She deserved better. He would have to learn to live without her, that was all. And if he had a mountain of paperwork to drown in, that was as good a place as any to try to forget her.

As if he ever could.

He didn't even look up as his door opened. "Merlin, Thomasina, I'll have the cases filed by the end of the day, I said!"

"Should I be jealous of Thomasina, then?" Katie asked, lips curled into a smile.

Marcus looked up, stunned. "Katie?"

"The one and only," she replied, shutting the door quietly behind her. She locked it and wedged a chair in front of it for good measure. "Well, I'd better be your one and only. I won't accept anything else."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, still stunned. He couldn't seem to remember how to make himself appear calm and collected.

"You didn't visit me at the hospital," Katie said, coming to sit by his desk. "And you didn't visit me after."

Marcus frowned. "I thought you didn't want me to."

Katie gaped at him. "Whyever would you think that, you great pillock? I told you I loved you, didn't I?"

Marcus slowly put down his quill and leaned back in his chair. "So it isn't the potion?"

Frowning, Katie shook her head. "You better not be trying to get out of this. I'll be very cross with you. I may have to get even."

He couldn't help but smile at the glower she was trying to shoot him. "So it's not the potion, and you meant every word you said."

"Of course!" she replied, affronted. "I don't tell just anyone I love them."

"And at Mungo's..."

"I never even got a chance to see you," she said, shaking her head. "I thought you'd come visit me. I waited, but you never came."

Marcus idly wondered if it was bad form to kill his future fiancee's father before he had even proposed. Probably.

"I suppose I thought you didn't mean it," he told her slowly. "I was giving you an out if you wanted it."

"You are all kinds of honorable in all the wrong ways," she declared, getting up. She came around his desk and sat on his lap. "But part of the charm, I think."

Marcus smiled. There was time to get back at Katie's father for the lie. He ran his hands along her sides as she touched his face. "So you're here."

"So I am."

"And you've locked my door."

"So I did."

"As well as push a chair in front of it."

"You're very perceptive."

"It seems to me that you have some kind of plan in mind," he told her, smiling lazily.

"My plan involves you and your desk. Mostly you." Katie grinned, her arms looping around his neck. "And then you get out of work and come home with me. Permanently." She paused, head cocked to the side. "Unless you don't want to?"

He kissed her fiercely in reply, holding her in place on his lap. When the kiss ended, he stared her in the eye. "You are _never_ getting away from me, Katie Bell. I went through seven kinds of hell thinking you didn't want me anymore."

"So you love me, then?" she challenged, wanting to hear the words. She would wrestle him to the ground if she had to, but she was hearing the blasted words one way or another.

Marcus cupped her face delicately in his hands. "More than is strictly healthy for either of us," he told her gravely.

"That's not saying it," she told him stubbornly. "I think, after going through all that hell, I deserve three little words."

He had seven for her, but he wasn't sure if she was ready for them. He could give her three now. "I love you."

She smiled at him, wide and open and heartbreakingly beautiful. "I love you, too, Marcus." She leaned in and kissed him on the mouth, her tongue sliding in to touch his. When she broke the kiss, she simply held him tightly. "I love you so much."

"You're sure you won't get tired of me?"

"Never," Katie promised, kissing him again. "Never ever."

He let his hands trail down her back and a small smile formed on his face. "So you've had thoughts of my desk?"

"Among other places. Like the floor, the chair, the wall..." Katie smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. "I'm partial to the wall at this point. That's where it all started for us, isn't it?"

Marcus kissed her deeply, threading his fingers through her long hair. She adjusted her position to straddle him on the chair, and he didn't think they would even make it to the wall. It was a good thing she was insistent on forever. It would probably take that long for him to get enough of her, if that was even possible.

 

The End.


End file.
